May 22, 2020May 22, 2020

Throughout the month of May, we’ll be running our exciting new Survive and Thrive blog series. The series will explore how businesses can not only seek to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, but find opportunities to thrive too.In this week’s blog, we’re going to explore how translation can inspire long-term brand loyalty by:

Optimising your digital user experience

Proving that you speak your customer’s language

Demonstrating your brand’s authenticity

Your company is now under a microscope.

Yes, it’s true. Customers are (quite rightly, may we add) observing and scrutinising companies’ every move during the COVID-19 pandemic – From how employees are treated, to their global communications and messaging, to how they are fulfilling their corporate social responsibility.

During this time of difficult decisions, it has never been more important to remember that how international companies behave today will likely determine their brand image for years to come.

Indeed, according to Marketing Dive, 83% of consumers said behaviour by a company’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic will influence whether they buy from that company post-pandemic.

This idea is echoed by retail guru Mary Portas, who says, “Every £1 is a vote, a vote for how we want to live.”

And that’s exactly why brand loyalty has never been so important.

Brand loyalty in the time of the coronavirus crisis

By this stage in the global COVID-19 outbreak, many companies have already come up against tough times. But as we head towards the ever-increasing likelihood of deep global recession, the message is clear: The actions that global brands take now will determine how they will fare in the post-pandemic economy.

That means that now’s the time to inspire brand loyalty in your international customer base. Now’s the time to prove to your customers that you understand them and that you’re on their side.

And for those companies that operate internationally, the secret to achieving this is through professional translation services that can not only take your message globally, but ensure it resonates with your target customers.

Here are 3 ways how translation can boost your brand loyalty:

1. By optimising your online user experience

Websites are the new windows into your company’s world. The importance of a strong website cannot be understated – especially now that so many of us are (largely) confined to our homes.

We looked last month at how the surge in internet traffic can bring plenty of much-needed opportunities for businesses during this pandemic, as long as you’re smart in how you go about it.

That means thinking about your website’s user experience. How many of your customers are left frustrated or alienated by your website’s content? Does it resonate with your customers in French Canada just as much as customers in Paris? Is your copy as impactful for American customers as it is for your British, Latin American or Indian customers?

We know that:

56.2% of customers care more about being able to view a website in their own language than price

72.4% of customers would be more likely to buy a product with information in their own language

Websites are the key to the global door. Now is the time to get customers on side with web content in their preferred language.

2. By proving that you speak your customer’s language

For a company, connection with your customers is everything. Investing in language solutions to be able to communicate meaningfully to your customers is just that: An investment. It’s what will keep customers coming back again and again, clinching that all-important brand loyalty.

Building effective and efficient multilingual customer service, for example, can help to create a seamless experience for customers. The brilliant thing is that you can take advantage of this at any budget. AI translation is now a fast, cost-effective way to translate customer queries, responses and feedback. Then, if you see a positive ROI (which we suspect you will), you can begin to invest in more comprehensive language solutions and support, or even hire multilingual staff to focus on your target markets.

It provides an extra level of security and comfort for customers, knowing that they can come to you with any issues and communicate in their own language. What’s more, it positions your company as someone that understands their customers’ needs on a deeper level than your competitors.

3. You’re demonstrating your authenticity

Here’s the deal: Marketing speak is over. Today, especially in the midst of a global pandemic, customers want to be treated like real people, not open wallets. In this new dawn of marketing and communications, the buzzword du jour is authenticity.

Authenticity is about talking to customers in their own language – Literally, yes, but also sharing an understanding of their culture, values and day-to-day lives.

That’s why word-for-word translation can only take you so far as a brand. Authenticity is won through localisation.

As a brand, you need to act globally but speak locally. Translating your product branding and packaging into European Spanish and trying to sell it in both Spain and Argentina is setting yourself up for failure.

Allow localisation experts to devise a plan for localisaing your company’s language, branding, imagery and more, and you’ll be rewarded.

Why Wolfestone?

Here at Wolfestone, we have a track record of helping our clients successfully go global – Even during the toughest of times.

Since graduating from University of Bristol in 2018 with a First in Italian and Spanish BA, Sofia has gone on to become a skilled translator, content writer and digital marketer. Sofia has a passion for storytelling and has also recently dipped her toe into journalism. A self-proclaimed language nerd, she is always looking for suggestions on which language to learn next.

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“Dulas works with many international customers and the cultural diversity of nations means overcoming the language barrier is essential. Using interpreters and translation services like Wolfestone means we can operate globally, meeting our customers needs, whatever their language.
Dulas Solar”